How to Build a Strong Pinterest Profile for Your Food Business

Your food business needs to be on Pinterest. If you’re like most business owners, you probably think Pinterest and social media as a whole is a waste of time. Well it’s not.

If you don’t already know, Pinterest is the newest social site to hit the mainstream and it can be addictive. Most of the users are women, so if your product or service is marketed to women, you need to be on Pinterest now.

Before you get overwhelmed with yet another social media darling, take a few minutes to build yourself a strong Pinterest profile and a strategy for the best way to use it for your food business.

#1 Separate Your Personal Pinterest from Your Business Pinterest

You can have more than one Pinterest account. Simply send yourself an invitation so you can have a personal account and a business one. Do this as soon as possible because it takes a while for the team at Pinterest to send you the invite.

#2 Create a Username That Prospects and Customers Will Recognize

People will search for you on Pinterest. If you already have a Facebook and/or Twitter business profile try to keep them consistent with your Pinterest profile. If you can’t get the exact name try adding “biz” to the end of the name. This will create continuity and make it easier for people to find you on any given site.

#3 Add an Image of Your Logo

Include an image of your logo if it is something people will recognize right away once they land on your Pinterest page. If you don’t have a logo you can create an image of the business name, use the header from your website, or even use a picture of your flagship product. If you’re a service provider or if there is a face to your business (like Martha or Rachel), upload a picture of that person. Just make sure that whatever you use, it is consistent through all social media websites.

#4 Your About Paragraph

Add a short description in your “About” page. Instead of listing your bio or a bunch of website addresses, keep it short and emphasize the benefits of your product or business. For example, if your food business is dedicated to gourmet party appetizers your bio might be as simple as “Gourmet appetizers delivered right to your door.” Or “The easy way to serve hand-crafted appetizers at your next party…in 20 minutes or less.”

#5 Add Follow Buttons

When you’re creating your profile you have the option to add:

· Your website

· Your Twitter profile

· Your Facebook profile

They’ll show up as buttons under your picture on your profile page. Fellow pinners can then click on any button and be taken to the respective site. Bonus: When you “pin” something you can click the Twitter button to tweet it or click the Facebook button and post your pin to Facebook in seconds!

As you’re creating boards for your food business, try to capitalize on a few branding tactics. For example, add keywords to your board’s names. For example, a few keywords to use in the food business can be: “gourmet food”, “quick and easy recipes” and “food gifts”.

Be sure to use related keywords for your specific business in the titles of your boards and also in the description section of what you pin and you will build a strong Pinterest profile in no time.